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Intrigue
Intrigue is one of the five Leader attributes. A higher Intrigue score will help in staying ahead of your fellow Stellar Powers through subterfuge and investigation, or countering such attempts made against yourself. Summary Spying on a neighbor, monitoring rumors and communication, and plotting or foiling a scheme are broad purposes of Intrigue. Great Projects intended to draw the attentions of spies, saboteurs, and detectives fall under Intrigue. Intrigue represents a Stellar Power’s spy craft and investigative ability. Standard Actions Investigation The actions of competing Stellar Powers, both subtle and overt, may at times give rise to mysteries or plots that can only be accurately unraveled by those trained in avoiding detection. Investigation of an event involves a check (2d6+Intrigue). The degree of success the investigation meets with will be dependent on the result, and it may be that the investigators meet with only partial success or fail altogether if the roll is not high enough. Note that some investigations may be simply impossible if you have no leads or evidence to go on in-character. A sufficiently high roll on an Investigation action does not guarantee a positive result if there is no basis for the action in the first place. Cause Unrest As Diplomacy allows a Stellar Power to quell unrest in their regions Intrigue allows Stellar Powers to attempt and encourage disruption to the stability of their opponents. A Stellar Power may attempt to cause unrest in a region, lowering Stability by one tier without exceeding rebellion (See Intrigue 10: Incite Rebellion), by taking an Intrigue action targeting a region for unrest. An attempt to cause unrest is a rolled Intrigue action opposed by a non-action Intrigue roll by the target Stellar Power. If the Cause Unrest action is taken as a Secret Action the target’s resistance will be rolled by the GM. Theft Players may attempt to steal technologies, Caller fragments, and other items of value from other players. Thefts are opposed Intrigue rolls actioned on behalf of the thief and non-action defended on behalf of the target. In the case of technologies the thief duplicates the technology without depriving the owner; in the case of unique items, the item itself is taken and the previous owner no longer possesses it. Stellar Powers which are frequent victims of raiding or theft attempts will naturally become more wary. If you target the same Stellar Power in successive rounds with the same type of Intrigue action, they gain a +2 bonus to their defence roll. This bonus is cumulative if attempts are made over three or more rounds, but only applies to attempts made by the same perpetrator. Intrigue is also used for Raids (see Trade rules). Special Actions: Intrigue 5 Uncover Caller Fragment The inscrutable Callers who once reigned supreme across the galaxy before mysteriously vanishing left their indelible mark on the fabric of galactic space; most notably of course was the Relay system manned by the biomechanical Couriers but outside these FTL stations relics of Caller technology are much rarer and far less operational. Rising Stellar Powers have on occasion found some abandoned piece of Caller hardware buried by time on their homeworld’s moon or floating freely in space though only rarely do these pieces of technology function in any meaningful way. However, there are rumors of pieces of Caller technology lost in the void that, if recovered, could provide a Stellar Power with significant advantages. If you have an Intrigue score of 5 or higher, you can choose to send an expert team of investigators to scour the known and unknown regions of the galaxy for evidence of functioning Caller technology. An Intrigue 5 spent in this way is sure to find something though the actual function of Caller artifacts recovered in this way will be unknown until after the action has been spent. While there is little research available at the start of the game regarding functioning Caller technology it is generally known that Caller technology functions better when close to similar technologies. Assassination and Kidnapping Players with an Intrigue score of 5 or more may attempt to assassinate each other’s named characters. If the target is a named character, make an opposed roll against your target’s Intrigue score, including all relevant bonuses. If the target is not a named character, make an opposed roll against half the Intrigue score of the target, including all relevant bonuses, and the Intrigue 5 Special action is not used up. If the assassin’s roll is higher, the target is killed. In the event of a tie, the target survives, though may be wounded or otherwise inconvenienced. Leaders receive an automatic +2 bonus to avoid being assassinated or kidnapped; as the head of Stellar Power, they enjoy greater personal security. Kidnappings function as assassinations, except that the target is taken alive rather than killed. Failed Assassinations/Kidnappings of a named and stat-holding character do not expend the Intrigue 5 Special Action, but the target of the failed attempt receives an additional +2 to resist further attempts in the following round, as security around them is heightened. Rescue attempts on captured leaders (whether lost via combat or via kidnappings) cost an I5 if they succeed and require an available I5 to attempt. Destroy Organization Base or Damage Organization HQ For Organizations in which the location of the Base or HQ is known, an Intrigue 5 Special Action can be spent to destroy a Base or damage the HQ of an organization; if this action is discovered, the perpetrator's Reputation will immediately drop by 3 levels. While an Organization's HQ is damaged, it does not grant a Base Bonus and the Organization takes a -2 penalty to all rolled actions; the HQ can be repaired with a two-action Project by the owner of the region in which it is located. If an HQ is Damaged by I5s three times before it is repaired it will be Destroyed. Special Actions: Intrigue 10 Incite Rebellion If you have an Intrigue score of 10, you have the ability to incite rebellion in a region experiencing Unrest or Instability prompting local forces to take up arms against their current leaders. An incited rebellion creates a militant uprising in a target region with 1d5+1 units and a general (1d4+6) who attempt to throw off the yoke of the region’s current ruling Stellar Power. The goals of the rebels will be determined by the GM, based on both your inciting fluff and that of the target region. Some rebels may also have access to technologies or other bonuses, as determined by the GM. Bug Rival If you have an Intrigue score of 10 you may choose to “Bug” a rival Stellar Power representing the infiltration of another Power’s administration and intelligence community to funnel information back to yours. The act of Bugging can be a non-secret action while the target remains Secret known only to the player and GM. A Bugged power will have its Secret Actions revealed to the Bugging power the round after a Secret Action is taken. A Bug lasts until it is disposed of by the Bugged power. To that end Bugs may be removed if they are discovered through conduction of an “Internal Investigation”, a rolled Intrigue action which will be competing to beat a hidden TN rolled by the GM. Additional Bugs beyond the first shall lower this TN by 2 and if any Bug has been detected a nation may take an unrolled intrigue action to remove all bugs currently affecting them. Pay attention to your Secret Action results. Sometimes things work but may not seem quite right. This could be the result of being Bugged or it may simply be due to the nature of remaining undercover. It will remain up to the player whether they believe an Internal Investigation is warranted. Category:Empire 5 Category:Rules Category:Intrigue Rules